The Feral Plains/Bonus
The Feral Plains was not the first story Cap devised featuring the Toa Powai. It had a long ancestry, with each rewriting of the Toas' story producing at least some elements that were adapted into the modern-day Feral Saga. During the writing of TFP itself, there was also content that was cut from it, in addition to a number of musical inspirations. This "Bonus" page documents these things as accurately and as coherently as possible, while also providing a complete gallery of all of the story's images. History Origins of the Toa Powai The Toa Powai are a Toa team that Cap created long ago. Although their names and elements stayed the same, they went through several different reimaginings, all featuring a different team name, setting, and storyline. Most storylines were created simply for CaptainLandr0ver's enjoyment. Here is an estimated timeline of the various reimaginings of the Toas' adventures and any relevance they have to The Feral Plains: * Estimated c'irca 2011:' The team began with Lewok's creation as a self-moc for Cap. The creation of the five other members followed him. This may have also been the point where a character who would inspire Keelo was created. This "Proto-Keelo" was half-angel and half-demon, a feature which was depicted by a half-blue, half-red color scheme, which would later be used for Keelo to represent his control over Fire and Lightning. * 2014: In this storyline, the team consisted of the original Toa team minus Corduk, who was a Matoran-turned-Makuta serving as the primary antagonist. After his defeat, he would switch sides and be transformed into a Toa of Earth. Cap theorizes that this may have been where his silver, black, and red color scheme originated from. He also remembers little else from this era and only knows it was developed in 2014 because he recalls having thought that the main theme from the 2014 movie Godzilla would have made an excellent theme song for Makuta Corduk. * Early 2015: In the next stage, the story took place in a futuristic cyberpunk alternate universe. The Toa were built using CCBS parts during this time. Lewok, the leader of a Toa team, would've been sent back in time to stop Makuta Teridax from collecting powerful items that could only be excavated back then. This was the most short-lived revision, and nothing developed for it was used in later stories, as far as Cap can remember. * Late 2015: This rendition of the story was split into three parts. Part one involved the Toa defending their home island from Makuta Tetradon, the second part saw them defend against Tetradon's former followers, led by Drakah, and the third followed them as they fought the incorporeal Makuta Mortarak and his army of robotic warriors. This was a considerably darker storyline involving many deaths, edgier characters, and more emotionally intense moments. This revision saw the conception of several new characters who would return later: Tetradon had a beastly appearance which inspired the look of Hysterix, Drakah was a male black-and-red Makuta with the ability to transform into a dragon and a fitting affinity for fire, Arvos was the Toa team’s original Toa of Ice who died soon after his transformation, Maroona was a Vo-Matoran who sacrificed herself but returned much later as a Toa of Lightning, and Omakah was an Av-Matoran disguised as a Po-Matoran who rode a vehicle and was eventually transformed into a powerful Toa of Light. Mortarak, the antagonist of the third and final part, wore a Mask of Possession and used it to travel around in spirit form, inspiring Hytserix's Althi and the way he used it. LEGO Gallery and CBW Releases of TFP The first episode of The Feral Plains was released onto the now-defunct general Gallery on the official LEGO website on May 28, 2016. Cap released TFP onto the Gallery under his alias on the LEGO website, tomatopaste101. Each episode consisted of a single upload to the Gallery, with 3400 or less words of writing (the maximum word count for a gallery upload description) and up to 5 accompanying pictures. The first images always displayed the story's title at the top. The story was exclusive the Gallery until April 8, 2017, when Cap released the first 10 episodes of the story to the Custom BIONICLE Wiki as Volumes ''I'' and ''II''. Cap then continued to upload episodes to the Gallery and compiling them into Volumes to be released onto the CBW, releasing the final episode to the Gallery and the final Volume to the CBW on August 11, 2017, over a year after the story began. This marked the last time Cap would use the Gallery; the Gallery itself would be discontinued and reincarnated as the LEGO Life app, where The Feral Plains in its original, episodic form still remains except Cap can't download the files because that would be too easy. Changes were made between the Gallery release and the CBW release. Where the Gallery release usually featured 4-5 pictures per episode, with around 140 in total, the CBW release excluded most of these images, with each chapter only keeping 1-3 of its original images for a total of 73. This was done to make compiling Volumes easier and to exclude poorly-shot images, images with strangely-posed characters, images with mistakes, and images that were ultimately unnecessary. Additionally, many episodes were lengthened or even combined, as the 3400 character limit was no longer present. Volume II was even given a whole new chapter, "Images". Many but not all writing errors were also corrected in the wiki release. Cut Content Many characters and plot elements were planned to appear but were scrapped for various reasons. The first character to be cut from the story was a Leskya Nuian Toa of Plasma named Logos who would've assisted Vandir and Hatar at the colonist camps; he was cut out to simplify the plot and for being an unnecessary additional character. Cap had previously planned for him to have formed a Toa Kaita with Vandir and Hatar near the final battle of the story. The second was a blue-and-green Dark Hunter named "Razor", who served as "Alchemist"'s assistant. He was cut due to Cap not wanting to add any more characters to the already cluttered story. Additionally, a plot element was planned where a Leskya Nuian Ta-Matoran named Cerbai would have created an army of automatons that could be given life and commanded using Lewok's Kanohi Vehere. This army and its corresponding episode were scrapped, and Cerbai would never be rewritten to fit a different role. The idea for him and his robotic warriors lives on, however, through the War Mongrels. The last major plot element to be cut was an aerial vehicle named the Imperia that was planned to be piloted by Shensii and Arvos during the final battle against the colonists. Even though a foot-long model of the vehicle was created, the idea was scrapped, as there were already too many ideas for the final battle of the story. Additionally, it would've been terribly uncharacteristic of Shensii for her to have piloted a vehicle of war. Additionally, several episodes were cut for various reasons. One episode, canceled after pictures were taken, involved the Natives traveling down the Desolation River to have the "final battle" with the island's invaders. If this episode had been left in, the story would've ended at its sixth Volume. Cap extended the story, instead, after coming up with the "trapped duel" plot point. Tfpdeleted3.JPG|A picture from a cut episode featuring Lewok Tfpdeleted2.JPG|A picture from "Monarch" Tfpdeleted6.jpg|A scene from an alternate version of the story's finale, where the Toa Powai simply led an attack on the colonists. This was cut considerably late in development and was replaced with the current story finale, which began with Jeko's capture. Tfpdeleted5.JPG|A scene from the previously described ending Tfpdeleted7.jpg|A scene from the previously described ending Monarch Another episode, titled "Monarch", saw Hatar combat training Keelo following Vandir's suggestion and would have come after Chapter 3 of Volume VI. This episode was cut when the moderators on the Lego.com Gallery considered it "too violent," and CaptainLandr0ver decided that the episode was unnecessary and did not revise it. Even though it was cut, some of it can be considered canonically true, aside from Lake Faradi having emptied out, which did not happen in the story. The chapter revealed Keelo's deeper motives and also explored Hatar's personality a bit more. Unedited, the chapter would have gone as follows: Click Expand to View Keelo's sword clashed with Hatar's, sending sparks flying in various directions. They held their blades their, pushing against each other, before their swords slipped and they backed away from each other to regain their breath. "Your strength," said Hatar as he shook his arms, "is considerably developed. You're very strong for a Toa." "I've heard that before," said Keelo as he prepared to strike again. He lunged, and Hatar leaped to the side. Keelo, not anticipating this, tripped and tumbled onto the dry lakebed. Throughout Keelo's seizing of the land, various cracks had appeared in the odd stony lakebed, allowing water to seep into the soil. Now it was dry, serving as an excellent training ground. Of course, a true arena was under construction. Keelo stood and turned around, only to see Hatar rushing at him. He attempted to do what he did, and leaped to the left. Hatar ran past him, stopped and turned around with an odd look. "No, no," said the Toa of Gravity, "I don't really think dodging is your thing. With all of that power, you need to start blocking more often." "What's wrong with dodging?" Keelo argued. "You have immense power," said Hatar. "Fire, Earth, Lightning... and whatever that mask of yours can do... you have a lot at your disposal, and you have to learn to use it all. Use everything you have." "Well," said Keelo, "You were the one who said that we're practicing without powers today." Hatar suddenly rushed at Keelo, disarming him and knocking him to the ground, with two blades held to his opponent's neck. "Like I said," he replied, "You have immense power. But you need to use more skill than power." He then jumped off of Keelo. "And what will that accomplish?" said Keelo as he staggered up. "A fair fight." "Fair?" Keelo used a disappointed tone of voice. "Yes, a fair fight," Hatar elaborated. "I don't look for a fair fight," said Keelo, "I look for one I can win," "I've noticed that," Hatar replied. "But part of being a Toa is being a fair fighter." Keelo was angered now. "Fair fighting was what got us here, you know!" "What do you mean?" "On Leskya Nui! We went easy on Antharahk, and look where that got us! One of the first major lessons I learned in life is that if you want something, you have to get it yourself!" Hatar knew he shouldn't argue, but the temptation suddenly seemed too strong. "Then why aim to destroy the natives when we can live with them?" "Because," Keelo said, "of one reason! And it's that this island, from what I've seen, is cursed! If we even tried to make a deal with them, they would just stab us in the back!" Hatar had sudden flashbacks of Wreshi in the forest. He pushed them out of his mind and decided to move onto something else. Something irked him to argue further, but honestly after a while Keelo would've begun to punish him for not staying on task and training him. "Well, then," the Toa of Gravity said, "let's see what all of that power can do. Hit me." Keelo mustered up all of the strength he could. In his left hand, he summoned a ball of earth and fire, and began to increase it's power, up to the point where it began to shake and glow. He smashed it into Hatar's chest, and the sphere exploded. Hatar was launched to the other side of the lakebed, and laid there breathing as ashes rained all around Keelo. Note that Hatar survived the attack with minimal injury. Music Several songs had varying impacts on the conception of The Feral Plains. The most notable of these was The "The Ecstasy of Gold" from the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, composed by Ennio Morricone. The song, alongside being one of Cap's favorite songs from a film score, sparked the idea to write the story, heavily influenced the story's setting, and inspired some of its events. Other songs from soundtracks that influenced the story included various tracks from the Bionicle: Heroes soundtrack, namely its main theme, the Matoran Enclave Night track, and Avak's battle theme. As the story's former "theme song", "Knights of Cydonia" by Muse inspired the events of the later portion of the story, particularly in Volumes ''VI'' and ''VII''. Full Gallery Volume I Tfp1-1.jpg|Arvos running after seeing Jeko Tfp1-1updatedtitle.JPG|The same image as before, with the title changed Tfp1-2.jpg|Arvos telling Turaga Maroona and Omakah about Jeko Tfp1-3.jpg|Jeko, as seen from afar by Maroona, Arvos, and Omakah Tfp1-4.jpg|Toa Navahko, after being summoned from the Shrine of Salvation Tfp1-5.jpg|Merdana and Jeko aiming their weapons at Maroona and the other Powai Nuians Tfp1-6.jpg|Toa Corduk trapping Merdana and Jeko in a pile of earth Tfp1-7.jpg|Merdana explaining her and Jeko's experience with the Powai Nuians to Toa Vandir Tfp1-8.jpg|Vandir and Merdana beginning their journey back to the Powai Nuians Tfp1-9.jpg|Vandir becoming irritated while talking to Navahko and Corduk Tfp1-10.jpg|Corduk fighting Vandir Volume II Tfp2-1.jpg|Keelo running from Tura and Jeko after stealing food Tfp2-1updatedtitle.JPG|The same image as before, with the title changed Tfp2-2.jpg|Keelo putting on the Mask of Catastrophes for the first time Tfp2-3.jpg|Maroona and the summoned Toa Powai witnessing the effects of the Mask of Catastrophes Tfp2-4.jpg|Claw marks from the Rahi stalking the colonist camp at night Tfp2-5.jpg|Vandir confronting the Rahi Tfp2-6.jpg|Corduk after being transported to the Shrine of Salvation Dimension unwillingly Tfp2-7.jpg|Maroona and the Summoned Toa Powai standing around the Shrine of Salvation Tfp2-8.jpg|Toa Wreshi (possessed by Hysterix) attacking Corduk in the Shrine Dimension Tfp2-9.jpg|The summoned Toa Powai, after being pulled back out of the Shrine Dimension Volume III Tfp3-1.jpg|Vandir and Toa Hatar talking near Lake Faradi Tfp3-1updatedtitle.JPG|The same image as before, with the title changed Tfp3-2.jpg|Shensii witnessing Nepto sink to the bottom of the lake Tfp3-3.jpg|Hatar coming to save Vandir from Nepto (who is possessed by Hysterix) Tfp3-4.jpg|Dark Hunter "Alchemist" confronting Toa Salvina and Wreshi Tfp3-5.jpg|Salvina fighting "Alchemist" Tfp3-6.jpg|Vandir (disguised as Omakah with the Mask of Disguise) deceiving Maroona Tfp3-7.jpg|Hysterix, after having his body be rescued from the Shrine of Salvation Tfp3-8.jpg|The Toa Powai fighting at the Battle of Lake Faradi Tfp3-9.jpg|Hysterix at Lake Faradi, holding Maroona captive Tfp3-10.jpg|Keelo putting the Mack of Catastrophes on again Tfp3-11.jpg|Keelo displaying his power after being mutated into a Toa Volume IV Tfp4-1.jpg|Toa Detras and Shensii walking up the Desolation River Tfp4-2.jpg|Shensii checking on Detras's injury Tfp4-3.jpg|Omakah discovering a comatose "Alchemist" Tfp4-4.jpg|Omakah, after accidentally reactivating "Alchemist" Tfp4-5.jpg|Lewok infiltrating Keelo's Empire Tfp4-6.jpg|Lewok dueling Toa Merdana Tfp4-7.jpg|Keelo threatening a captive Lewok Tfp4-8.jpg|Wreshi after defeating Toa Hatar in a battle Tfp4-9.jpg|Wreshi preparing to strike Hatar Tfp4-10.jpg|Navahko saving Hatar from Wreshi's wrath Volume V Tfp5-1.jpg|Detras and Shensii coming across Arvos Tfp5-2.jpg|Detras and Shensii being welcomed into Aqueduct Tfp5-3.jpg|Salvina handing Detras's shield back to him Tfp5-4.jpg|Salvina dodging a shot from Merdana Tfp5-5.jpg|Merdana becoming stuck in a puddle by Salvina Tfp5-6.jpg|Vandir dueling Detras Tfp5-7.jpg|Merdana accidentally shooting Vandir Tfp5-8.jpg|Hysterix talking with Keelo Tfp5-9.jpg|"Alchemist" and Omakah coming across Wreshi and Navahko Tfp5-10.jpg|Wreshi fighting "Alchemist" Volume VI Tfp6-1.jpg|Arvos and Omakah meeting Tfp6-2.jpg|Wreshi attempting to talk to Corduk Tfp6-3.jpg|The Toa Powai, further united at Aqueduct Tfp6-4.jpg|Keelo revealing his possession of the Mask Maker's Tool Tfp6-5.jpg|"Alchemist"'s mind being destroyed by Keelo via Lewok's Vehere Tfp6-6.jpg|Salvina talking with Detras Tfp6-7.jpg|Yedrin revealing Vandir, now recovering, to Keelo Tfp6-8.jpg|Vandir and Keelo discussing their plans Tfp6-9.jpg|Omakah and Shensii harvesting greatgrass Tfp6-10.jpg|Omakah dueling Jeko Tfp6-11.jpg|Maroona preparing to use her Noble Mask of Psychometry on Jeko's mask Tfp6-12.jpg|Jeko and Tyria spying on Keelo, as seen in a flashback Tfp6-1 alt.jpg|An unused alternate title image for the Volume, showing "Alchemist" coming across Keelo Volume VII Tfp7-1.jpg|The Toa Powai creating a plan Tfp7-2.jpg|Salvina using stones to form a makeshift map of the surrounding area Tfp7-3.jpg|Vandir talking with Keelo Tfp7-4.jpg|Detras and Keelo preparing to duel Tfp7-5.jpg|Keelo firing a bolt of lightning at Detras Tfp7-6.jpg|Omakah using the Shrine of Salvation to trap Keelo Tfp7-7.jpg|Hysterix holding the Mask Maker's Tool Tfp7-8.jpg|Hysterix battling the Toa Powai and Leskya Nuians Tfp7-9.jpg|Omakah and Shensii running with the Mask Maker's Tool Tfp7-10.jpg|Shensii and Omakah trapped at the edge of a cliff Tfp7-11.JPG|Omakah kissing Shensii for the first time Tfp7-12.JPG|Pmakah using the Mask Maker's Tool against Hysterix Tfp7-13.jpg|Vandir being betrayed by Hatar Tfp7-14.jpg|Hatar standing with the Toa Powai Tfp7-15.jpg|Maroona giving a speech to the Leskya Nuians Other Theferalplains.jpg|The title image for the story Tfpdeleted3.JPG|Deleted scene involving Lewok Tfpdeleted4.JPG|Deleted scene featuring Cerbai Tfpdeleted2.JPG|Deleted scene from the cut chapter "Monarch" Tfpdeleted6.jpg|Deleted scene from an alternate ending Tfpdeleted5.JPG|Deleted scene from the same alternate ending Tfpdeleted7.jpg|Another deleted scene from the same alternate ending